Where does the memory reside...2
--
The memory is either personal or cosmic.
The cosmic is, -that is pervaded in Cosmos.
The personal is, -that is associated with a person (soul) and one is in touch with it always, though only a speck is available to him which determines and defines his 'world' and himself along-with the 'time' he finds confined within.
So memory is of time-space existence of oneself.
This memory is consciousness endowed with myriad aspects, but again could be in relation with to a person or the Cosmos.
I'm not convinced if the word 'Cosmos' is synonymous with 'ब्रह्म' / 'ब्रह्मन्'...
Though 'ब्रह्म' / 'ब्रह्मन्'... is another name of 'Totality'; -that includes all.
A person at any time is and finds himself in / at only one plane of consciousness while alive or dead.
While alive, one passes through three stages, namely the waking state (when there is perception of
a outside world, and one takes oneself a specific body in that world), the dream state, when one finds oneself in yet another world and the world of his 'waking state' goes to oblivion.
Though after waking up one often remembers that state, one can't remember the world of his waking state during his dream.
Occasionally, one through some practice can remember in dream that he is asleep to the world and this phase is only a temporary feeling, and one belongs in fact to the waking state where his world is comparatively a firm and stable reality.
Then there is a deep dreamless sleep state where there is darkness only.
The 3 states above narrated is the usual experience of all.
This forms the 3 layers of the mind; -the personal mind and the Cosmic mind as well.
The sense of 'I' and 'I am' are again two different modes of perception.
The sense 'I' prevails through out all the three states.
However the sense 'I am' is not so conspicuous during deep dreamless sleep, and one infers one's existence with the help of the memory of that state.
In usual behavioral level while living in this world, it is perfectly o.k. to assume oneself a person, -with a name and form, but it is not the whole truth.
The same consciousness that is manifest and is revealed during the waking state enters the state of dream-level and then of the deep sleep level.
Again the 3 states could be further categorized in terms of 5 sheaths (कोष) . These 5 sheaths are the abode of memory.
The five sheaths are described as:
अन्नमय > body made of food,
प्राणमय > body made of vital forces,
मनोमय > body made of thoughts, feelings, emotions, intellect and inference.
विज्ञानमय > the body made of pure perception (बोधमात्र), without translating the perception into a memory in terms of experience, feeling, emotion, or inference.
and the last is:
आनंदमय >The sense of joy / bliss of being only.
respectively.
And could be explained easily in a way everyone can understand.
The memory is the only way and bridge too to connect the individual to the Cosmic.
In our common misunderstanding though we tend to think them 2 aspects of existence,
it is nevertheless a completely wrong notion.
The same 'I' that is 'ब्रह्म' / 'ब्रह्मन्'... / 'Brahman', is realized in the Cosmic Consciousness as "Self", while as 'self' in the individual consciousness.
Let us first find out where this 'I' is located in our individual consciousness, then we can perhaps go ahead and deeper.
During dreamless sleep, one experiences the joy of deep sleep though this is never a sensory experience.
But there again the 'perception' (भान / बोध) of this natural joy / happiness is so prominent, no one can doubt.
This implies in that state of dreamless deep sleep 'I' exist(s) and the perception that it is a state of 'joy' is also there.
This 'perception' is exactly the विज्ञानमय कोष and also the आनंदमय कोष .
For a comparative study of these 5 sheaths one could seek help from :
"माण्डूक्य उपनिषद' / where this whole subject is well explained.
Coming once again to the question :
Where does the memory reside.....
we need to locate a place in this physical body that could be thought of as the exact point.
We have to find out with the help of Gita chapter 5 stanza 27 and chapter 8 stanza 10.
But before that let us try to see how 'I' (अहम्) and 'I am' (अहम् -अस्मि) are in relation to one -another.
The word 'I' signifies 'सत्' , that is 'What IS' irrespective of time-space, because time-space are but manifest form of the 'सत्' , the 'What IS'.
This rhythm of manifestation and withdrawal from the manifestation to potential hidden form of 'सत्' , of the 'What IS' is again relative to person (individual) and the Universal (of his world), So there is a state of manifestation and dissolution for the individual and his relevant world. Again there is another perspective when such an infinity and their world is viewed as a world irrespective of any particular individual.
This Universal world (physical Gross World made of 5 elements) also undergoes through repeated manifestation and dissolution.
So there is the death and reincarnation at the individual level and the Universal level also.
The 'knowledge' of this process is in the seed-form in the Cosmic Consciousness.
That constitutes the "Cosmic Memory".
This "Cosmic memory" has again a terminal connecting the individual with a name and form (body) with the Universal.
As has been said, time-space is but manifest form of the 'सत्' , the 'What IS', we can never say there is / was 'Creation' and 'Destruction' of the existence as such . This is but appearance and disappearance of 'सत्' , the 'What IS', in the individual and the Universal consciousness.
'I'(अहम्) and 'I am' (अहम् -अस्मि) are but two aspects of the same 'सत्' , the 'What IS', where 'I' is ever so pure, unaffected by this Cosmic memory, while 'I am' (अहम् -अस्मि) is the memory / knowledge that forms the upper layer of the manifest.
Thus 'I am' is though the great bridge to transcend the state of individual being (that is the root-cause of sorrow, confusion, misery, ignorance), 'I' is the indestructible (अविनाशी) state of 'I'(अहम्) , where all divisions cease to exist.
The state of 'ब्रह्म' / 'ब्रह्मन् / 'Brahman' too is therefore 'सत्' , the 'What IS', and thereby is the conclusion :
अहम् ब्रह्मास्मि / aham brahmaasmi
that applies to the Self as well as 'ब्रह्मन् / 'Brahman' too.
And this knowledge (memory) is revealed at the individual and the Cosmic level as well.
Yet 'the World' is an intermediate link between the two.
The place of 'I am' in the human body is at the 'आज्ञा चक्र' / AjnA-chakra (is described vaguely as the point on the forehead between the two eye-brows).
The word आज्ञा / AjnA itself means the simple knowledge (ज्ञा > जानाति > to know, with prefix आ that implies in the right manner) .
All individual memory in the seed form is located at this 'आज्ञा चक्र' / AjnA-chakra.
In death however the vital breath follows the mind (चित्त / Cittam) and the sense 'I am' leaves the corporeal body through one of the 1001 (or more, according to how they are interpreted) and the dying person experiences the passage chosen by his last wish, desire etc.
The role of faith is only to let the man choose a path that takes him to 'I am' sense.
Ramana Gita explains the whole process how the place of 'I' in the individual body is on the right side on the chest that is the purport of 'हृदयं', the 'I am' sense basically emanates from there.
This is reflected / manifest in the head as the personal conscious while the sense 'I am' stay seated at the 'आज्ञा चक्र' / AjnA-chakra.
Now, the reference to Gita :
भ्रुवोः / bhruvoH
(भ्रू > Locative, -7th case in Sanskrit vibhakti) ; meaning upon, on, at).
This is the same root, प्रातिपदिक / crude form of a noun, that generates another word भ्रूण (embryo).
So, we can understand how the 'I am' sense that is located in the body along-with the memory of the person, after discarding the dead body enters in the form of an embryo in the womb of the mother of the next incarnation he assumes.
--
The reference to Gita is just to establish a link between two consecutive births of a soul / individual.
However the whole process and practice needs elaborate efforts and then one can think of preserving and retaining the memory in the next birth.
This is one way, one can hope to be born in a new body and remembering the past one also.
Again, Just like 'ब्रह्म' / 'ब्रह्मन् / 'Brahman', who could be contacted at 'आज्ञा चक्र' / AjnA-chakra, one could also meditate upon different 'devata' who are the presiding deities at the various nerve-centers ( चक्र / chakra) in the body.
One attains the particular Loka (Sphere) of that Deity, in case if one remembers him when one, while alive, breaths his last.
--
There are 7 Major Spheres (Urdhva-Loka / ऊर्ध्व लोक), and one can knowingly or unknowingly, wittingly or unwittingly attain any of these.
And again there are such 7 अधोलोक / adho-Loka (Minor Spheres) (nether-worlds).
Likewise there are 7 मध्यलोक / Middle -Spheres , which form the 'sub-conscious'.
--
Just in case you may like to contact me :
vinayvaidya111@gmail.com.
--
The memory is either personal or cosmic.
The cosmic is, -that is pervaded in Cosmos.
The personal is, -that is associated with a person (soul) and one is in touch with it always, though only a speck is available to him which determines and defines his 'world' and himself along-with the 'time' he finds confined within.
So memory is of time-space existence of oneself.
This memory is consciousness endowed with myriad aspects, but again could be in relation with to a person or the Cosmos.
I'm not convinced if the word 'Cosmos' is synonymous with 'ब्रह्म' / 'ब्रह्मन्'...
Though 'ब्रह्म' / 'ब्रह्मन्'... is another name of 'Totality'; -that includes all.
A person at any time is and finds himself in / at only one plane of consciousness while alive or dead.
While alive, one passes through three stages, namely the waking state (when there is perception of
a outside world, and one takes oneself a specific body in that world), the dream state, when one finds oneself in yet another world and the world of his 'waking state' goes to oblivion.
Though after waking up one often remembers that state, one can't remember the world of his waking state during his dream.
Occasionally, one through some practice can remember in dream that he is asleep to the world and this phase is only a temporary feeling, and one belongs in fact to the waking state where his world is comparatively a firm and stable reality.
Then there is a deep dreamless sleep state where there is darkness only.
The 3 states above narrated is the usual experience of all.
This forms the 3 layers of the mind; -the personal mind and the Cosmic mind as well.
The sense of 'I' and 'I am' are again two different modes of perception.
The sense 'I' prevails through out all the three states.
However the sense 'I am' is not so conspicuous during deep dreamless sleep, and one infers one's existence with the help of the memory of that state.
In usual behavioral level while living in this world, it is perfectly o.k. to assume oneself a person, -with a name and form, but it is not the whole truth.
The same consciousness that is manifest and is revealed during the waking state enters the state of dream-level and then of the deep sleep level.
Again the 3 states could be further categorized in terms of 5 sheaths (कोष) . These 5 sheaths are the abode of memory.
The five sheaths are described as:
अन्नमय > body made of food,
प्राणमय > body made of vital forces,
मनोमय > body made of thoughts, feelings, emotions, intellect and inference.
विज्ञानमय > the body made of pure perception (बोधमात्र), without translating the perception into a memory in terms of experience, feeling, emotion, or inference.
and the last is:
आनंदमय >The sense of joy / bliss of being only.
respectively.
And could be explained easily in a way everyone can understand.
The memory is the only way and bridge too to connect the individual to the Cosmic.
In our common misunderstanding though we tend to think them 2 aspects of existence,
it is nevertheless a completely wrong notion.
The same 'I' that is 'ब्रह्म' / 'ब्रह्मन्'... / 'Brahman', is realized in the Cosmic Consciousness as "Self", while as 'self' in the individual consciousness.
Let us first find out where this 'I' is located in our individual consciousness, then we can perhaps go ahead and deeper.
During dreamless sleep, one experiences the joy of deep sleep though this is never a sensory experience.
But there again the 'perception' (भान / बोध) of this natural joy / happiness is so prominent, no one can doubt.
This implies in that state of dreamless deep sleep 'I' exist(s) and the perception that it is a state of 'joy' is also there.
This 'perception' is exactly the विज्ञानमय कोष and also the आनंदमय कोष .
For a comparative study of these 5 sheaths one could seek help from :
"माण्डूक्य उपनिषद' / where this whole subject is well explained.
Coming once again to the question :
Where does the memory reside.....
we need to locate a place in this physical body that could be thought of as the exact point.
We have to find out with the help of Gita chapter 5 stanza 27 and chapter 8 stanza 10.
But before that let us try to see how 'I' (अहम्) and 'I am' (अहम् -अस्मि) are in relation to one -another.
The word 'I' signifies 'सत्' , that is 'What IS' irrespective of time-space, because time-space are but manifest form of the 'सत्' , the 'What IS'.
This rhythm of manifestation and withdrawal from the manifestation to potential hidden form of 'सत्' , of the 'What IS' is again relative to person (individual) and the Universal (of his world), So there is a state of manifestation and dissolution for the individual and his relevant world. Again there is another perspective when such an infinity and their world is viewed as a world irrespective of any particular individual.
This Universal world (physical Gross World made of 5 elements) also undergoes through repeated manifestation and dissolution.
So there is the death and reincarnation at the individual level and the Universal level also.
The 'knowledge' of this process is in the seed-form in the Cosmic Consciousness.
That constitutes the "Cosmic Memory".
This "Cosmic memory" has again a terminal connecting the individual with a name and form (body) with the Universal.
As has been said, time-space is but manifest form of the 'सत्' , the 'What IS', we can never say there is / was 'Creation' and 'Destruction' of the existence as such . This is but appearance and disappearance of 'सत्' , the 'What IS', in the individual and the Universal consciousness.
'I'(अहम्) and 'I am' (अहम् -अस्मि) are but two aspects of the same 'सत्' , the 'What IS', where 'I' is ever so pure, unaffected by this Cosmic memory, while 'I am' (अहम् -अस्मि) is the memory / knowledge that forms the upper layer of the manifest.
Thus 'I am' is though the great bridge to transcend the state of individual being (that is the root-cause of sorrow, confusion, misery, ignorance), 'I' is the indestructible (अविनाशी) state of 'I'(अहम्) , where all divisions cease to exist.
The state of 'ब्रह्म' / 'ब्रह्मन् / 'Brahman' too is therefore 'सत्' , the 'What IS', and thereby is the conclusion :
अहम् ब्रह्मास्मि / aham brahmaasmi
that applies to the Self as well as 'ब्रह्मन् / 'Brahman' too.
And this knowledge (memory) is revealed at the individual and the Cosmic level as well.
Yet 'the World' is an intermediate link between the two.
The place of 'I am' in the human body is at the 'आज्ञा चक्र' / AjnA-chakra (is described vaguely as the point on the forehead between the two eye-brows).
The word आज्ञा / AjnA itself means the simple knowledge (ज्ञा > जानाति > to know, with prefix आ that implies in the right manner) .
All individual memory in the seed form is located at this 'आज्ञा चक्र' / AjnA-chakra.
In death however the vital breath follows the mind (चित्त / Cittam) and the sense 'I am' leaves the corporeal body through one of the 1001 (or more, according to how they are interpreted) and the dying person experiences the passage chosen by his last wish, desire etc.
The role of faith is only to let the man choose a path that takes him to 'I am' sense.
Ramana Gita explains the whole process how the place of 'I' in the individual body is on the right side on the chest that is the purport of 'हृदयं', the 'I am' sense basically emanates from there.
This is reflected / manifest in the head as the personal conscious while the sense 'I am' stay seated at the 'आज्ञा चक्र' / AjnA-chakra.
Now, the reference to Gita :
भ्रुवोः / bhruvoH
(भ्रू > Locative, -7th case in Sanskrit vibhakti) ; meaning upon, on, at).
This is the same root, प्रातिपदिक / crude form of a noun, that generates another word भ्रूण (embryo).
So, we can understand how the 'I am' sense that is located in the body along-with the memory of the person, after discarding the dead body enters in the form of an embryo in the womb of the mother of the next incarnation he assumes.
--
The reference to Gita is just to establish a link between two consecutive births of a soul / individual.
However the whole process and practice needs elaborate efforts and then one can think of preserving and retaining the memory in the next birth.
This is one way, one can hope to be born in a new body and remembering the past one also.
Again, Just like 'ब्रह्म' / 'ब्रह्मन् / 'Brahman', who could be contacted at 'आज्ञा चक्र' / AjnA-chakra, one could also meditate upon different 'devata' who are the presiding deities at the various nerve-centers ( चक्र / chakra) in the body.
One attains the particular Loka (Sphere) of that Deity, in case if one remembers him when one, while alive, breaths his last.
--
There are 7 Major Spheres (Urdhva-Loka / ऊर्ध्व लोक), and one can knowingly or unknowingly, wittingly or unwittingly attain any of these.
And again there are such 7 अधोलोक / adho-Loka (Minor Spheres) (nether-worlds).
Likewise there are 7 मध्यलोक / Middle -Spheres , which form the 'sub-conscious'.
--
Just in case you may like to contact me :
vinayvaidya111@gmail.com.
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